[0:00] Well, week six, or sermon six, in the seven I am sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John. And this morning we come to the message, the way, the truth, and the life.
[0:14] In John 14, 6, and you may be wondering why I asked Grant to read that lengthy chapter, John 13. Thank you for reading it. Well, as we go into the passage, we see that John 14 starts with the message, Let not your hearts be troubled.
[0:37] And as we go on through that, Believe in God, believe also in me and my Father's house. Are many rooms, if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.
[0:47] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.
[1:00] Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, A message that probably actually fits with John 13.
[1:28] We can go back and we will look at what John 13 teaches us. But Jesus opens the passage here. Let not your hearts be troubled. And we have that statement, which we've taken as our title this morning.
[1:44] I am the way and the truth and the life. And as we go through this morning, what we hope to be able to look at is what it says to those that are troubled, what it says to those that are lost, and what the answers are for the troubled and for the lost this morning, as we look at this passage together.
[2:09] We can see, as we go on in the troubled, we saw in chapter 13, as it was read to us, the disciples had been told that they were unclean.
[2:23] They needed to be washed. That if they hadn't been washed, they would not share with Christ. They were unclean. Jesus then went on and told them that one of them was going to betray them.
[2:38] Imagine sitting in a group. They'd been together for three years. And all of a sudden on this night, Jesus does something that he hasn't done for them before. First of all, he washes their feet.
[2:51] And then he comes and tells them that one of them is going to be betrayed. Or going to betray them. The disciples look at one another, wondering, which one of us is it?
[3:03] There's uncertainty within the room. No one at the table knew what he had said or understood what he had said to Judas in verses 26 to 30.
[3:19] He said, the one that dips his bread or takes the bread, the morsel, is the one that is going to betray him. They didn't understand when they saw what had happened.
[3:33] We see that there's spiritual blindness. Jesus goes on to explain they had lived by the Ten Commandments all their life. And Jesus goes on to explain that he's giving them a new commandment.
[3:48] That they love one another just as he has loved them. But their focus isn't on this new commandment that's been given to them. What's their focus on?
[4:00] Where's Jesus going? He's told them again as he told before when he was with the Jews that he was going to leave them. That he was going to his father.
[4:11] But instead of focusing on this new commandment, they were bewildering at where Jesus was going. They had been with him three years. There was spiritual blindness amongst the disciples.
[4:27] And then we have that well-known passage where Peter, full of confidence, says that he's going to lay down his life for Jesus.
[4:37] And very quickly, Jesus says to him, you'll lay down your life for me before the clock crows tonight. You will deny me three times. He placed his confidence in himself, not in Jesus.
[4:55] Now as we come here this morning, I don't doubt that some of the trouble that the disciples experienced in that upper room are troubling some that are here this morning.
[5:13] Maybe don't understand what God's word means. You've still got spiritual blindness. There are those that are going through situations that they don't actually understand why they're going through them.
[5:27] There are those that have confidence in their own ability, thinking that no matter what comes their way, that they'll be able to deal with it on their own.
[5:40] There are others that may have suffered betrayal. Friends that you've had that have let you down, those that you've trusted in have walked away, and you recognize what betrayal actually is.
[5:58] And Jesus spoke to his disciples in that situation. He came to them, and what does he say to them? Do not let your hearts be troubled.
[6:14] We move on in the slides. He says to them, sorry, we'll speak about the lost before we give the answers. On two occasions, we see here within the passage, the passage that was read and the passage that is before us.
[6:34] The disciples never understood what Jesus was telling them. Thomas says, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?
[6:45] Again, he had been with them three years. He had repeatedly told them that he had come from the Father, that he was going to go back to the Father. But they failed to understand.
[7:00] It wasn't the first time the question had been asked about how the directions were or how could you get there. Even Peter asked the question, Lord, where are you going? Is there a question that runs through your mind when you hear God's Word opened, when you hear it explained to you?
[7:22] God talks about going to His, Jesus talks about going to His Father. How do we get there? Are you feeling lost or are you lost this morning?
[7:36] We come to the answers. the disciples came to the right person with their questions.
[7:48] Why? Because as we see there, the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. They were lost.
[8:01] They had questions. Where are you going? How do we get there? How do we know the way? How do we know the way they came to Jesus with their questions? And that's the example for each and every one of us as we gather here this morning.
[8:17] When we have our questions, who do we go to for our answers? The example that's been given. We saw this last week with Martha when she had questions.
[8:29] She came to Jesus. Lord, if you had been here, do we come to Jesus with our questions? because Jesus came to seek and to save those that were lost.
[8:46] And Jesus gives them an answer. A message that's been repeated as we've gone through the sayings that we've had before.
[8:58] A message that is repeated. Believe. Believe in God. God, believe also in me. Are you troubled this morning?
[9:10] The answer that the disciples were given is the exact same as the answer that you find in God's word this morning. Believe in God. Don't try and sort it out yourself.
[9:23] Don't go on being troubled. Believe in God. Because as the answers keep coming, we see for those that are unclean, what had to happen?
[9:41] The disciples had to be washed by Jesus. The answer is the exact same for us. Now there are some of us here this morning that believe in Jesus.
[9:54] And as was said by Paul, as such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified. Where? In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.
[10:11] The question that comes from the answer is have you come to Jesus for cleansing? Betrayal.
[10:22] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations and behold, I am with you to the end of the age. If you have gone elsewhere and found the text that says Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
[10:39] He will be with us till the end of the age. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. He will never betray us or let us down. Do you have a friend in Jesus this morning that will be with you to the end of the age?
[11:00] Uncertainty. How many of you have got the text on your wall? For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil.
[11:11] To give you a future and a hope. Do you have that certainty in knowing that God is with you each and every day and He has a plan and a purpose for your life?
[11:30] No situational awareness but the helper of the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
[11:44] We don't always understand what's happening. There are things that happen in our lives that sometimes they almost pass us by. We don't see the bigger picture.
[11:56] But Jesus tells us or we read in God's word here that the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name He will teach you all things.
[12:08] There will come a time where you will start to gain an understanding if you come and you ask and believe. What about spiritual blindness?
[12:22] Jesus said, For judgment I came into the world that those who do not see may see we did elsewhere that He came to open the eyes of the blind.
[12:33] Are you spiritually blind this morning? Do you need your eyes to be opened? Do you need to come and believe in Jesus that Jesus can actually open your eyes?
[12:47] Do you trust that Jesus can open your eyes to the riches of His word? And where's your confidence placed this morning?
[12:58] trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.
[13:14] Are you trusting in yourself this morning? Are you thinking that I can do all things in my own strength? Peter was with Jesus.
[13:25] Peter had walked with Jesus for three years but he never understood that the confidence he had came from being with Jesus in Jesus and through Jesus.
[13:40] He thought that the strength was within himself. He thought that he was going to be able to lay down his life for Jesus. But Jesus very quickly told him that before the clock crows you will deny me three times.
[13:58] And we read on and we see that the man that had this confidence in himself when he was pressed by a young girl denied that he knew Jesus.
[14:11] Let's not place our confidence in the wrong things in ourselves. Let's place our confidence in Jesus. You may be thinking well the passage actually says to us and he told us the title of the sermon was I am the way the truth and the life.
[14:33] You've given us all these answers you've told us about all these troubles. How does that link to Jesus being the way the truth and the life?
[14:44] Well we've answered one part of the question. Believe. Believe in the Lord. Believe in God. if we go back to the slide that we had earlier on we move on to the next slide.
[15:03] The only way that we can be truly clean is to come to Jesus for that cleansing. It's the only way. There is only one way.
[15:16] There are many truths contained within Scripture. but there is only one way to be truly cleansed and to truly know Jesus and to know God and that is to come to Jesus as the way.
[15:36] We can see there the truths that so often we can cling to as Christians and should cling to as Christians that are contained within God's Word. and what about the life?
[15:51] If we move on a passage that is so well known to us we saw earlier on that Jesus is the only way for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son as that word comes up again that whoever believes in Him is the only way and what's the truth that comes from that?
[16:23] If you believe in the only Son of God the truth that comes from that is that you should not perish or shall not perish or will not perish depending on the translation of the Bible that you have and in not perishing what do you receive?
[16:43] You receive eternal life. I am the way the truth and the life. That's not where that verse finishes.
[16:57] As we move on we see that it says no one comes to the Father except through me. I am the way the truth and the life.
[17:11] No one comes to the Father except through me. We looked at John 3.16 We add on John 3.17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
[17:34] through Him. What was our message to the children as we spoke to the children this morning? How did Jesus execute the office of prophet?
[17:51] He came to tell us of God's will and the way of salvation. The message that we had for the kids is the exact same message that we find in God's Word this morning.
[18:08] I am the way the truth and the life. Now I don't know as you come here this morning what troubles you may be facing.
[18:20] I don't seek to minimize anybody's troubles. There are some of you here this morning that are lost. the only answer for your trouble and for your lostness is to come to Jesus.
[18:41] I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. The message is simple it's how we understand it.
[18:57] Now you live here in Carloway and I'm going to show you something and I hope when you see it it will help you to remember the message that you've heard here this morning.
[19:14] That when Jesus came and he said I am the way the truth and the life the message was that you were to come and join the way. You were to come into the way to know the truth to know the life and some of you might know where this is going.
[19:34] Some of you might know a chant that goes up on a regular basis. I don't want to spoil that chant for you but I want you to think about this that you come on the way and you know the truth and you know the life.
[19:56] Let us pray.